Cyborgs (Terra Futura)
A cyborg was a person with robotic parts. Originally, this was just for medicine, but, eventually, it became a lot more common. Background Until the 1500s, anyone who lost a limb would just get a peg leg or a hook. French surgeon, Ambroise Pare, changed that. He designed mechanical limbs. In 1993, bionic arms and legs finally became possible. In many cases, the sense of touch was restored. Not only that, but hearing and heart function had been restored. In 1906, the first hearing aid was invented. It became portable portable in 1923. In 1960, the first cardiac pacemaker was invented. In 1969, the first artificial heart was invented. During the 21st century, cyborgs were becoming possible. Description What brought cyborgs in the mainstream overtime were new prosthetics. Among them were bionic eyes, bionic ears, implantable brain-computer interfaces, artificial organs, synthetic blood, synthetic bodily fluids, and advanced bionic limbs. Bionic Eyes Tech Level: 10-11 Early versions of bionic eyes from 2013 were crude with less 100 dots. By 2019, they used more than 1,000 dots making it easy to recognize someone and read. By 2036, bionic eyes exceeded normal human vision. They were also physically indistinguishable from normal human eyes. Externally mounted cameras were no longer needed. These cameras had been incorporated into the eye. Bionic eyes started providing senses beyond normal vision. At night, humans with bionic eyes could switch to infrared vision for safety reasons. Bionic eyes were also providing augmented reality with help from implantable brain-computer interfaces. This helped provide data on demand. Vision was not the only sense enhanced. Hearing was enhanced, too. Bionic Ears Tech Level: 10-11 At the same time that bionic eyes were becoming common, bionic ears were to. Early versions were crude, but as time went on, they became more sophisticated. During the mid-21st century, bionic ears were becoming better than normal ears at hearing. They could even hear sounds above and below the range of normal human hearing. Bionic ears were also more resistant to sound damage. This meant that they could attend a rock concert and still be okay in the ears. However, not only were cybernetics replacing normal senses. They were going directly to the brain. Implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces Tech Level: 11 (Note: Since this topic is covered in depth in another page, this will only talk about the basics.) During the mid-21st century, brain-computer interfaces were becoming implantable. The majority of people were starting to implant these brain-computer interfaces permanently. This greatly augmented human intelligence. Augmented reality became much more common. If necessary, a person could switch to full immersion virtual reality. For many people, this was becoming essential as advances in computers, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and neuroscience were coming too fast to understand. Humans were merging with machines in other ways, too. This included artificial organs. Artificial Organs Tech Level: 10-11 Replacing real organs with artificial organs was controversial when it started. The artificial heart never worked as well as a real heart or better until the mid-21st century. Then, in 2021, the first artificial kidney was developed that worked as well as a real kidney. Dialysis lasted only a short time. Transplants, even with cloned organs, did not last forever. Therefore, artificial kidneys were the best bet. Artificial kidneys could perform as well as real kidneys thanks to the person's blood pressure. An artificial kidney had an lifespan. By the mid-21st century, many different artificial organs had been created that almost never failed and could filter out deadly poisons. The death toll dropped. It would drop even more with synthetic blood. Synthetic Blood Tech Level: 11-12 During the mid-21st century, cybernetic enhancements became more extreme. Many rich people began opting for decentralised circulatory systems. With artificial hearts not working as well as real hearts, this would be a good alternative, but it was controversial. By eliminating the heart, the internal anatomy of a person was radically altered. Needless to say, the artificial heart which was much cheaper did catch up during the mid-21st century. However, synthetic blood did not become obsolete. With synthetic blood, physical vulnerability was reduced. People could now survive multiple gunshot wounds or other damage easily. This was still expensive, and, at first, only the rich could afford it. Politicians and criminals took advantage of this. By the late 21st century, however, synthetic blood was cheap enough to be used by everyone. So were other synthetic bodily fluids. Synthetic Bodily Fluids Tech Level: 12 By 2080, synthetic bodily fluids were being used in place of normal bodily fluids. They helped filter out deadly toxins. Not only that, but synthetic bodily fluids were providing hours worth of oxygen. This made synthetic bodily fluids very popular. Some people around that time were even more adventurous. Advanced Bionic Limbs Tech Level: 10-12 Bionic limbs were nothing new in the late 21st century. They first appeared in 1993 as the replacement for the peg leg and the hook. By the late 21st century, bionic limbs were incorporating artificial muscles enhancing people's strength and agility beyond the limits of genetic engineering. These bionic limbs also incorporated artificial skin that used nanotechnology to resemble a person's usual skin color. Despite that, the limbs can still be told apart from those of an android. By 2080, all of these cybernetic enhancements were taken for granted. Of course, further enhancements down the line, and a new technology would be born: Mind Uploading. Category:Technology (Terra Futura)